Aramco Q2 Profit Jumps 33%; July Attacks Had No Material Impact

Saudi Aramco's second-quarter profit rose 33% to $33.4 billion, and Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser said attacks on company facilities in July had no material impact on operations or finances.

"Certain facilities of the company were targeted and the impact was not material operationally or financially," Nasser said on a call. "The same thing applies for July. No material impact on our capabilities, even with the July attacks."

The comments are the first time Aramco has acknowledged the July strikes. Traders had spent days examining satellite images of what appeared to be tank fires and flaring at various sites across the kingdom. Aramco deferred to the Saudi government on security issues and did not say which facilities were damaged or still under repair.

Profit benefited from a war-driven surge in oil prices and topped the combined earnings of ExxonMobil Holdings Corp. and Chevron Corp.. Aramco has also diverted much of its export volume to the western port of Yanbu after the Strait of Hormuz was disrupted. The east-west pipeline, which moves crude from the kingdom's eastern fields to Yanbu, has proved a vital alternative route during the war.

Nasser said Aramco is studying ways to expand export capacity, including potentially enlarging that pipeline. "Right now we are looking at all of that and we are trying to be ready for the future with additional optionality and capability for our exports," he said.

He acknowledged some interruption to operations from the July attacks. Aramco's full production capacity of 12 million barrels a day remains available, and the company could ramp up to that level within three weeks if the government asked, he said.

Threats from Yemen's Houthi militant group to Saudi shipments in the Red Sea have not cut export volumes, Nasser said. The Houthis last month said they would impose a blockade on Saudi exports. The kingdom is working on contingency plans around the waterway, he added.